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The AFC.comNagoya Oceans 6-6 Thai Port. aet. (6-5 pens)Friday, 12 March 2010Esfahan: Nagoya Oceans claimed third place at the inaugural AFC Futsal Club Championship with an historic 6-5 penalty shoot-out win against Port Authority of Thailand following a 6-6 draw at Pirouzi Stadium on Friday.
For the first time at the tournament a game had gone to extra time with both sides locked at 4-4 and with neither side able to find a breakthrough in the added 10 minutes, penalties ensued.
Wutachai Tintawee failed to score his spot kick before Rafael Sakai did the same for the Japanese but Siriroj Panyateerawong struck the post for the Thais to hand the victory to Nagoya.
The Japanese had taken the lead after four minutes when Sakai struck a powerful effort into the roof of the net with goalkeeper Prakit Dankhunthod well beaten before they extended their lead in the ninth minute when skipper Wataru Kitahara laid the ball off for Shuta Mori to fire home.
Sakai's deflected shot bobbled into the net a minute later to put Nagoya 3-0 up and seemingly coasting but two quick goals from Ulid Rossanakarn brought Port Authority back into the game.
Kaoru Morioka then swept a shot into the back of the net from Kenchiro Kogure's free-kick but again the Thais responded with just over a minute of the half remaining as Ulid's ball across the face of goal was poked into an unguarded goal by Ukrit Taengtung.
Nattavut Madyalan levelled for the Thais midway through the second half when he rifled home from close range but from then on neither side could find a breakthrough and the game went to extra time.
The Thais lost Ulid midway through extra time when he was shown his second yellow card but keeper Prakit put Port Authority ahead when he found the net from his own goal kick.
Kogure levelled the scored in the 47th minute but Port Authority thought they had won it when Ukrit stabbed home with 30 seconds left only for Teppei Maruyama to immediately level and force penalties where Siriroj 's miss handed the win to Nagoya.
Courtesy:
The AFC.comAmarante: Tournament taking Asian futsal forwardFriday, 12 March 2010Esfahan: Nagoya Oceans coach Adil Amarante believes the AFC Futsal Club Championship will help the sport in Asia flourish after his side secured third place at the first edition of tournament following a thrilling 6-5 win on penalties over Port Authority of Thailand on Friday.
An end-to-end encounter at Pirouzi Stadium had ended 4-4 in normal time meaning extra time was needed for the first time at the competition.
Thai keeper Prakit Dankhunthod then put his side ahead when he scored from his own area only for Kenichiro Kogure to level in the 47th minute for Nagoya.
Port Authority again responded as Ukrit Taengtung stabbed home with 30 seconds remaining but Teppei Maruyama's strike soon after forced the game to penalties.
Wutachai Tintawee failed to score his spot kick before Rafael Sakai did the same for the Japanese but Siriroj Panyateerawong struck the post for the Thais to hand the victory to Nagoya.
“This match was great for futsal and both teams played well,” said Amarante (pictured).
“We want to play futsal the right way for the spectators and throughout this competition our team has played well.
“Apart from Foolad, who have many strong players here and all the other teams were very close.
“In Asian futsal playing in this kind of tournament is good for the development of football in this region.”
After comfortable wins in their first two games of the tournament against Uzbeks Stroitel Zarafshan and AUB Altyn Tash Bishkek of Kyrgyzstan, Nagoya then lost to Foolad Mahan Sepahan to finish second in Group A before suffering a 7-4 defeat to Al Sadd of Qatar in their semi-final on Thursday.
The Japanese champions' hard-fought victory over Port Authority ensured they finished on a high but Amarante admitted his side were not always at their best throughout.
“Our performance in this tournament changed from game to game, sometimes we played well and sometimes we did not play well,” he added.
Courtesy:
The AFC.comA great advert for Asian futsal says UdomSaturday, 13 March 2010Esfahan: Port Authority coach Udom Taveesuk felt his side's third-place decider of the AFC Futsal Club Championship against Nagoya Oceans was a great advert for Asian futsal despite the Thais losing 6-5 on penalties.
The South East Asians had found themselves 3-0 down at one stage against the Japanese champions at Pirouzi Stadium but showed great resolve to battle back before forcing the game to extra time.
Things took a turn for the worse for Port Authority when Ulid Rossanakarn was sent off but they looked to have snatched victory when Ukrit Taengtung stabbed home with 30 seconds remaining.
However, Teppei Maruyama went immediately down the other end of the court to score seconds later and send the game to penalties.
Wutachai Tintawee failed to score his spot kick before Rafael Sakai did the same for the Japanese but Siriroj Panyateerawong struck the post to hand the victory to Nagoya.
But, instead of being disappointed with the defeat, Udom was all smiles after the match.
“This game was a very, very good match with something happening every second,” he said.
“We had the red card and had only three players but we did well to fight with them until the end.
“It was a very good game and shows the quality of Asian club futsal very well. They (Nagoya) were very good and their desire to get third place was very strong.”
Port Authority's campaign started poorly as they drew 3-3 with Pro's Cafe of Lebanon before losing 6-2 to Al Sadd.
They edged NSW Thunder 6-5 for their first win in Group B before a 9-5 victory Wuhan Dilong of China clinched second and booked their place in the semi-finals.
Though they lost 5-3 to Foolad Mahan Sepahan in the last four they were certainly not outplayed and Udom believes his side got better as the tournament went on.
“Our side from first round and this round were different because when we arrived here we had some problems with the weather,” he added.
“It is hot in Thailand at the moment but not so much here, however the longer we stayed here we got more used to it and that enabled us to play better.”
Courtesy:
The AFC.comSaturday, 13 March 2010Esfahan: Foolad Mahan Sepahan etched their name in the history books as the Iranians won the inaugural AFC Futsal Club Championship with a 5-2 victory over Al Sadd of Qatar at Pirouzi Stadium on Friday.
A match featuring the two best club sides in Asia was always going to be close and so it proved with the scores locked at 2-2 with three minutes of normal time remaining.
However, a quick-fire double from Javad Asghari and a strike from futsal legend Vahid Shamsaee secured the trophy for the tournament hosts.
Shamsaee had given Foolad the perfect start when he struck after two minutes before Mohammad Taheri side-footed into the roof of the net to put Hossein Afzali's side into a commanding position.
The 36-year-old Shamsaee then flicked a header just wide for Foolad but Al Sadd reduced the deficit with seven minutes of the half remaining when Errahmouni Bilal struck, much to the consternation of the vociferous home crowd.
The local fans were silenced again two minutes into the second half when Al Sadd equalised as Bilal clipped the ball over the onrushing Mostafa Nazari.
Foolad dug deep, though, as Taheri's shot from just outside the area was denied by Al Sadd keeper Faraj Rashid while Mohammad Keshavarz's long-range drive flew just wide before Shamsaee failed to score when one-on-one with Rashid in the 32nd minute.
The game looked destined to go to extra time but with three minutes left on the clock the stadium erupted as Shamsaee fed a pass to Asghari on the right and the forward hit a low effort beyond Rashid.
Victory was in sight when Asghari added another seconds later as he flicked a shot into the net following a quick counter before the game was put beyond Al Sadd in the 38th minute when Shamsaee broke quickly before slotting beyond Rashid's right.
Foolad then held onto possession to run down on the clock before the final whistle sparked scenes of jubilation amongst the home fans and the Foolad players.
Courtesy:
The AFC.comTop honours for evergreen ShamsaeeSaturday, 13 March 2010Esfahan: Age is clearly no barrier for Vahid Shamsaee as the Iran legend dominated the awards for the AFC Futsal Club Championship after helping Foolad Mahan Sepahan to the historic first title on Friday.
The 34-year-old former Asian futsal player of the year was in scintillating form throughout the tournament and his 15 goals secured the Top Goal scorer award while his all-round play during Foolad's unbeaten run to final earned him the Most Valuable Player accolade.
No side at the tournament was able to prevent the world's top futsal goalscorer from breaching their defence and his superb form throughout culminated with two goals in the 5-2 win over Al Sadd of Qatar in the final at Pirouzi Stadium.
Shamsaee is the world's top futsal goal scorer and it is difficult to be so lethal in front of goal without being a little selfish but Foolad coach Hossein Afzali believes that is part of what makes him the exceptional talent that he is.
"Some experts believe he can be a little selfish but he is the top scorer in our league and in this tournament and you cannot argue with his scoring record," he said.
The awards add to Shamsaee's already bulging collection having helped the Iran national team to a stunning nine AFC Futsal Championship titles.
Foolad Mahan Sepahan also walked away with the Fair Play Award with none of their players being shown a red card throughout the tournament and just three picking up yellow cards.
Courtesy:
The AFC.comAfzali: Foolad triumph will lift IranSaturday, 13 March 2010Esfahan: Coach Hossein Afzali believes Foolad Mahan Sepahan's victory at the inaugural AFC Futsal Club Championship will help unite Iranian fans behind their national football and futsal teams.
Around 5000 fans packed the Pirouzi Stadium to cheer Foolad to a 5-2 victory over Al Sadd of Qatar in the final of the tournament on Friday.
The game was locked at 2-2 with just three minutes remaining but a quick-fire double from Javad Asghari and a strike from futsal legend Vahid Shamsaee secured the trophy for the tournament hosts.
“The fans have not been very satisfied with the football team recently and I believe this will make the people in this city and country become happier," said Afzali.
“The Iran Football Federation have also said that victory at this tournament will help to make the fans happy and we are happy we can do that."
Al Sadd coach Fabiano Ribeiro, meanwhile, believes the experience his players gained by finishing runners-up will stand them in good stead to win a future edition of the tournament.
With Foolad backed by their vocal home crowd, Al Sadd faced a daunting task and things looked bad when they found themselves two-goals down midway through the first half.
However, goals either side of half time brought them level and the game looked destined for a extra time before Asghari and Shamsaee's strikes secured the victory for the Iranians.
But Ribeiro was happy with the performance of his players against a side that contained eight international players and believes Al Sadd have become a stronger side for having played in the tournament.
“We came here as probably the 10th strongest team in Asia and we finished second so for us it is amazing. It is incredible,” said the Brazilian.
“This was our biggest moment in the tournament. They competed well and they deserved this and I am very happy because I know my team reached their limit.
“They (Foolad) deserved it so congratulations to them but congratulations too to my team as we played to our limit and this was our objective for this tournament.
“I believe we can improve with this experience and do even better in future tournaments.”
One of the key players on Al Sadd's road to the final was Xavier Rodrigo and it was no coincidence that their only defeat prior to the final came when the Brazilian was not in the starting line-up.
Rodrigo again impressed against Foolad and Ribeiro believes he has the ability to one day become as good a player as Iran legend Vahid Shamsaee.
“Rodrigo is one of the five best players in the world for me,” he added. “He is so young but he has knowledge of futsal like older players.”
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